IRAs are tax-advantaged investment accounts that can hold many different assets. Lots of people put mutual funds and stocks in their IRAs, but gold is another solid investment option that comes with several benefits. If you're opening this type of account, here are some of the advantages that gold IRA portfolios offer:

Investment in a Tangible Asset

For some people, investing in a tangible asset like gold has its own emotional merits. While this alone doesn't have a monetary impact on your portfolio, simply knowing that you own a precious metal that people have valued for millennia comes with its own sense of reward.

Insulation from the Stock Market

Because gold's value isn't tied to any business or economic performance, the metal serves as a great insulator against stock market volatility. When the stock market goes down, gold often remains unchanged or goes up in value because the two aren't closely tied together.

Even though investors have different views on the stock market, most agree that some insulation from the associated volatility is beneficial. Some investors may put their resources solely in market-free options like gold, and even those that believe strongly in stocks often still consider investing a little of their portfolio in gold.

Insurance Against Changing Interest Rates

Similarly, gold also serves as insurance against changing insurance rates. Regardless of whether the Fed increases, decreases, or doesn't touch the insurance rate each quarter, gold's performance remains unaffected by their actions.

Liquidity When You Need to Sell

No matter when you need to sell the gold in your IRA, you'll have no trouble offloading it to an interested buyer. Gold has always been in demand, both in recent years and for many centuries in the past. Thanks to today's modern communication, it can be sold almost instantly.

In this way, gold is distinct from real estate. Whereas real estate has many of its own merits, selling a piece of land or a building can take days, weeks, months, or years depending on what market the property is in. If you need money immediately, gold's liquidity is a major advantage.

Value That Has Increased Recently

Importantly, gold is an asset that has provided strong returns in recent years. Over the past decade, gold's value has increased from around $900 per ounce to approximately $1300 per ounce. That's an increase of about 44 percent in just 10 years. That's a rate of return most investors would be quite pleased to see in their portfolios.